GOV. Pataki has much for which to answer, but the dismal state of urban public education in New York shouldn’t be on the list.

Blame for the schools, in fact, accrues to the Democrats.

Just as the mayor of New York City has no operational authority over the public schools here, the governor of New York state is permitted no significant input into education policy anywhere.

That task falls to the state Board of Regents, a panel stocked by whichever Democrat happens to be speaker of the state Assembly whenever a vacancy occurs.

The details are in the state Constitution.

The effect is this: For some time now, the Democrat in charge of the schools has been Sheldon Silver of Manhattan – assisted by his sidekick on all matters educational, Steven Sanders, also of Manhattan.

Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, Silver and Sanders, so smooth are they when it comes to the appalling performance of urban schools: It’s all about money, don’t you know.

But it’s not.

This week the state Education Department for the first time made public standardized test results tabulated by race and ethnicity, and by city and school district.

The numbers present a profound challenge to public-school policy makers: It would seem that the racial divide so apparent in virtually every aspect of civic life in New York begins in grade school.

By the numbers, white and Asian kids did OK – barely.

But black and Hispanic kids did dreadfully.

Especially here in New York City.

But not just in the city.

The patterns hold statewide – in rich school districts and in poor. Money mattered, but not all that much.

But while the numbers are new, the information they convey isn’t.

New York has a public-school problem: It comprises an unholy confederation of unionists, bureaucrats and opportunistic interest groups – feeding off parental nonfeasance, a permissive political culture and the billions of tax dollars spent on the schools every year.

The essential bankruptcy of New York City’s schools is best evidenced by Mayor Bloomberg’s halting efforts to be assigned responsibility for their performance – and the refusal of Silver, Sanders & Co. to do more than talk about reform.

Bloomberg wants formal control over day-to-day operations of the schools – details to be discussed after the fact.

That’s a murky proposal.

On the other hand, the schools hardly could get worse.

Moreover, the real opposition to ceding control to Bloomberg resides not so much in a fear that he can’t get the job done – but that he will do it all too well.

Getting value for a public-school dollar, after all, means chasing the freeloaders out of the schools.

That prospect isn’t sitting too well with an important element in Silver’s own power base: the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus, whose members rely on school-system patronage for their own purposes.

They don’t want to hear about mayoral control of city schools.

How ironic that the kids demonstrated to be most at risk by the Education Department’s new figures – black and Hispanic kids – are the ones who stand to gain the most from Bloomberg’s proposed reforms.

The mayor says he wants control of the schools, and Pataki backs him. Meanwhile, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno stands ready to ratify whatever reforms Mayor Mike can negotiate.

They’re all Republicans.

Standing in the way are Silver, Sanders and the Democratic Party as a whole – the party of the status quo.